Rule the waves on World War Two British battleship

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Stride the bridge like a captain, trawl through the massive engine room and learn all about how Britain built the ships which ruled the waves onboard a British battleship that survived World War Two.

Climb aboard the HMS Belfast, which is permanently moored on London's south bank between London Bridge and Tower Bridge to see its "Launch! Shipbuilding Through the Ages" exhibition, which is on until the end of the year.

You'll have to do a bit of looking to find the exhibition, wandering the vast ship until you hear the sounds of hammering and tinkering coming from a hatch in the deck.

Clamber through this hatch, down the steep steps, and you'll find yourself in the mess deck where sailors used to sleep in a ship which served the nation during World War Two and Korea.

Here in the mess deck, the exhibition covers hundreds of years of ship-building methods, from wooden boats in the Middle Ages through to the steel liners of today.

"This is more authentic than a regular museum," Canadian tourist James Hailstone said as he viewed the exhibits.

"It's different, it's unique, it's fun," he added. "You don't see much information like this around."

The tinkering noises, you discover now you're inside the room, come from interactive video displays about boat building.
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